NDTV: Durban- India today kicks off its high-level political negotiations as Environment Minister, Jayanthi Natrajan, takes control of the talks with other nations at the high level United Nations talks at Durban, South Africa on climate change. India has criticised the Developed Nations, especially the United States of America, for not making firm commitments to cutting green house gas emissions.
Former Chief Climate Change Negotiator of the United Nations, Yvo de Boer, has said that he was “deeply concerned” about the ongoing negotiations. He believes the process of negotiating a meaningful climate agreement was failing. World leaders have failed to reach an international accord to control greenhouse gas emissions causing global warming, he said.
In recent years, their inattention has been compounded by their preoccupation with the economic and Eurozone crises. Rather than act in their own national interests, many leaders look to see what others are willing – or unwilling – to concede.
“I think a bit of the situation that we have at the moment, and certainly the situation we had in Copenhagen, is that you’ve got a bunch of international leaders sitting 85 stories up on the edge of a building, saying to each other, ‘you jump first and I’ll follow,’” Mr de Boer said.
But despite their failures, Mr de Boer said he thought most leaders sincerely want a deal on climate change. “It’s, to a large extent, I think, a rudderless process,” he said. On Sunday, the South African host of the talks called for divine help at a climate change church service organised by the South African Council of Churches.
“We needed to pray for a credible, balanced and fair outcome that has a sense of urgency to save the earth, the planet now,” said Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, who as South Africa’s Foreign Minister is President of the Durban round of negotiations.
During Sunday’s service at the Uniting Presbyterian Church, multi-faith priests laid their hands on her head as Bishop Mike Foster reminded the congregation of how important the fight against climate change was. Critics of this year’s COP17 talks say that too little is being done to push through a legally-binding resolution on climate change.
The COP17 negotiations continue next week when United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon opens the high-level negotiating segment on Tuesday.
Jayanthi Natarajan stresses ‘equity’ at Durban climate talks : Jagran Post
Durban: As pressure increases on India to accept legally binding carbon emissions cuts, Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan on Monday stressed on “equity” as a central tenet of the climate change talks.
“Without a response based on equity we cannot solve the problem,” Natarajan said at a side-event at the UN climate talks in Durban.
“The architecture we create and promote should be based on recognition of these fundamental principles,” she said adding that “Equity is absolutely central to the climate change debate.”
“India’s position will be based on clarity, consistency and compassion,” Natarajan said.
Speaking at the side-event on equity, organised by the Indian government and the Centre for Science Environment, Sunita Narain, India’s leading environmentalist, stressed that the developed world should carry the burden of reducing carbon emissions.
“They (developed countries) have legal commitments to reduce and not to increase,” she said.
“There is a tremendous effort to shift the blame so the rich countries do as little as they can,” she added.
After losing out in last year’s talks in Cancun, the Indian delegation insisted that negotiators here revisited the issue of equity as part of its three point agenda, which it submitted in the first week of the climate talks.
The three point agenda– equitable sharing of atmospheric carbon space, technology sharing and intellectual property rights (IPR) and unilateral trade barriers—has received a lukewarm response.
